Iran intensifies threats against protesters as demonstrations persist
Protests sweeping across Iran approached the two-week mark on Saturday, with the government acknowledging the ongoing demonstrations despite an escalating crackdown, all while the Islamic Republic remains largely cut off from the rest of the world.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown to at least 65 people, and more than 2,300 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iranian state TV is reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats on Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
The statement, carried by Iranian state television, said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.
“Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country,” the statement read. “Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on social media platform X in support of the Iranian people.
“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote. The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President [Donald] Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”
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